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Russia Ships Stolen Ukrainian Grain to Syria as Drought Fuels Food Crisis
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![Photo of Ivan Khomenko]( "Photo of Ivan Khomenko")
Russia has resumed grain deliveries to Syria, including shipments of grain taken from occupied Ukrainian territories, according to Latifundist Media on August 19.
Investigative journalist Kateryna Yaresko from the SeaKrime project of the Myrotvorets Center reported that the dry cargo vessel DAMAS WAVE (formerly GOLDEN YARA, IMO: 8915299), sailing under the flag of the Comoros, has been making regular trips between the occupied port of Feodosia in Crimea and the Syrian port of Tartus.
This marks the third such voyage with cargo identified as stolen Ukrainian grain.
According to Yaresko, the vessel arrived in Feodosia from Tartus loaded with cargo and was documented unloading on July 31 before beginning a new loading process. On August 15 or 16, it departed again with Tartus listed as its destination.
Reuters previously reported that Russia had been the main supplier of grain to Syria prior to the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. However, starting in December 2024, shipments were largely suspended due to payment delays and uncertainty over Syria’s new government.
This year, Syria has faced a potential food crisis following the most severe drought in 36 years, which reduced domestic wheat production by about 40 percent. According to local officials cited by Latifundist, the new Syrian government purchased only 373,500 tons of wheat from local farmers this season, roughly half of last year’s volume.
The Syrian government is estimated to require imports of approximately 2.55 million tons of wheat in 2025. So far, Damascus has not announced any major import agreements and has relied instead on small private deliveries totaling about 200,000 tons under direct contracts with local importers.
Earlier, Syria’s new government signaled a renewed openness to Moscow. On July 31, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani visited Moscow—the first official trip since the regime change—declaring that Syria wanted Russia “by our side.”
He told Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that cooperation should be based on “mutual respect,” while acknowledging the complexity of bilateral ties.
